Reading a lot of the LIS literature so you don't have to since 2005. This is my blog to reflect about librarianship, my work, literacy, stuff I read, and a few other academic things. If it is personal, not discussed in polite company (i.e. religion and politics), or more miscellaneous, I put it in my personal blog, The Itinerant Librarian.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Made it to 2013. We are in the middle of January 2014; it feels like I am running a bit late in terms of doing my annual reading report, but it's all good in the end. I feel this has been a good reading year. It was not as good of a blogging year, at least for the professional blog (this one), but I am at peace with that. It's not that I have stopped writing. I keep writing, but I often do more of my reflections about librarianship both my work and the profession in the privacy of my journal. I've also learned to simply stay away from the drama and soap opera that Librarian Blogsylvania (and a couple other forums) often displays. So, I blog here as I feel the need to or when I want to document something I feel important.

On the positive, I have been blogging more over on my personal blog, The Itinerant Librarian. For one, I decided to go back to posting my book notes here on the blog after I make notes for them in my journal. In part, I was motivated by GoodReads being bought by Amazon, and in part, well, I just wanted to post more book reviews. Reading has always been an important part of my life. As a librarian, I take pride in the fact that I read a lot, and I try to read a variety of things. Sharing them on the blog is a bit of fun, is a way to have some content on the blog, and maybe some other reader out there finds a good reading suggestion or two from my book notes.

In addition, this was the year I registered with NetGalley, and shortly after with Edelweiss. Also, this year I can say is the year I started reading more e-books via the iPad, using apps, mainly Bluefire, but also Overdrive for library books and Kindle. I may write later on some of my experiences reading e-books with these devices and software. I can say that I have slowly but surely built up as a book blogger, and I am enjoying it very much. This has allowed me to read more I think, and it has allowed me to try out a few new things; for instance, I have always read erotica (something the Better Half and I enjoy very much), but it was not something I shared publicly (in part due to that whole pesky "librarian image" thing). This year I finally decided to share some of those books and review them as well on the blog. Don't worry. I am not going into full "sex blogger" mode; this is more just adding some depth and variety to my book blogging with something I have always read and enjoyed. If one of the four readers is too prudish, well, there are other blogs out there he or she can read. To sum up, the risk is a bit lower when you read a galley or review copy, so trying new things feels easier. Now on The Itinerant Librarian, I strive to combine reviews from newer things (many of these items via NetGalley, Edelweiss, or the one or two publishers who have me on their reviewer lists-- another small experience to write about later) plus new and old things on my "to be read" lists, things from the library (yes, I still check out books quite a bit), and things I purchase. It's been fun; it's something I enjoy sharing and writing about, and as a librarian, it has none of the drama. Life in that regard is good.

I also tried a book challenge this year, which sadly I did not get to complete mainly due to the very serendipitous way in which I read. I will write about that soon. The other experience I enjoyed very much was participating in my local public library's summer reading program. This also got me to read more, and I did read a few new things outside what I usually read. I have been meaning to write about it, so I hope I can do so soon. Overall, it was a good year of new experiences in reading, and I hope this new year keeps the positive reading experience coming. So, let's see how we did in 2013:

The basic numbers:

I read 173 books this year, including 2 re-reads.

Number of books read in 2012: 117, with 6 re-reads (the 2012 list).
Number of books read in 2011: 119, with 3 re-reads (the 2011 list).
Number of books read in 2010: 119, with 6 rereads (the 2010 list).
Number of books read in 2009: 98, with 5 rereads. I believe this is the first time I started to actively track rereads. (the 2009 list).
Number of books read in 2008: 111 (the 2008 list).
Number of books read in 2007: 85 (the 2007 list).
Number of books read in 2006: 106 (the 2006 list).
Number of books read in 2005: 73I read a lot more this year; 56 more books than last year. As I noted, this was the year I joined NetGalley and Edelweiss. I have been more active on NetGalley (easier to use), and it shows. Many of the books I read in 2013 were either e-galleys or e-book review copies (on NetGalley, sometimes they send a rough galley, and other times they do send a full e-book version).

I did not reread much this year. One of the two rereads was Batman: The Long Halloween, which is a small tradition for me around Halloween. Rereads are marked in the list with an asterisk. As I did in 2012, I now track how many books I borrow from libraries (my library or others, say ILL),
and I will go over that and other numbers in the commentary below the
list. As always, if a book title is not as clear, I have added small
details
in parenthesis (say to make clear it is a graphic novel or part of a
series). Most of the books listed below have been reviewed on my blog, The Itinerant Librarian, or you can find brief reviews on my BookLikes profile (this would apply more for older things before I restarted book reviewing on the blog, and it was imported from GoodReads. My BL profile is linked on the right side of the blogs). To read reviews at The Itinerant Librarian, simply click on the label for "books and reading." The only exception: the professional books I read and review go here at The Gypsy Librarian.

So, finally, here is the my reading list for 2013. I will add comments and thoughts, as I always do, after the list:

January:

Gav Thorpe, Path of the Seer (Path of the Eldar series, Book 2, Warhammer 40K).

Diane E. Muldrow, Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Little Golden Book.

Nick Reding, Methland.

Neil Gaiman, Signal to Noise (new edition).

Stephan Pastis, Rat's Wars (Pearls Before Swines collection).

Cullen Bunn, The Sixth Gun: Sons of the Gun.

Comments and thoughts:

Though I still prefer to read in print, this was the year that I truly took off in terms of reading e-books. I use my iPad, and on the iPad I mainly use the Bluefire app., followed by the Kindle app. For e-books, it is mostly free stuff. I do not buy e-books (I do very little shopping online overall, in part because I dislike using credit cards for that purpose, so I avoid it). E-galleys have been one way for me to read e-books. Another way has been a few online freebies I learn about from various sources; this is the only reason I have an Amazon account, for the occasional book freebie. In addition, I have also borrowed e-books from my local public library using Overdrive, which gave me exposure to that system. However, reading on the iPad is not always the most pleasant experience. In addition to its weight, it is still reading on a computer screen (eye strain issues, so on). Turning pages is not as seamless as the makers of e-books make out to be (and on iPad, at times, e-books do briefly "freeze" for seconds, frustrating when you want to read the next page, and it won't turn). Plus, for bedtime, where I do a lot of my reading, I tend to prefer reading in print as a way to disconnect. So while I do read a lot more e-books, print is still my preferred reading method, and I still read a lot in print. I have not given up for print for electronic as other people have done, and I don't foresee doing it anytime soon.

These days I am using BookLikes to both keep track of my books as well as just a bit of book blogging for fun. You can see my BookLikes profile here (or click the link on the right column of this blog). In a nutshell, it is like a hybrid of what GoodReads does with Tumblr. It may not be as robust for some things librarians tend to like, but it works pretty well for me. Only thing I use GoodReads for these days is mostly to post links to reviews of books I have read for review, in other words, books from NetGalley, Edelweiss, or a publisher. Those folks tend to like it when you post in "big shot" places like Amazon and/or GoodReads. Amazon is not going to happen because to post a review there, you have to have made an actual purchase (freebie downloads do not count), and I am not planning on doing one any time soon. However, since I already have a GR account, copying a link there when I add one of those books to my shelf is no big deal. I don't give GR any more than that in terms of info. In terms of community, so far, people in BL seem fairly nice overall so far.

I still read a lot by serendipity. This is based on either mood or whatever I find interesting at a time. Sure, I keep TBR lists in various places, but I do a lot of "ooh, shiny new book" grabbing when I see something. That is just life, and I am perfectly cool with that. As I have noted before, some of my TBR lists you can find over at Alchemical Thoughts (just
click on the "books and reading" tag when you get there). I also browse
a lot, and I make notes. Still loving my pocket notebook, which works well for
me because it is great for reminders, including jotting down books I
want
to read, which I then add to a list on the scratch pad, or borrow or buy
depending on mood.

Number of books read in the best month: 17 in September. Some good stuff that month, including the first two volumes of Saga.

Number of books read in the worst month: 11 in January, so I still did pretty good. Usually, if I get 10 books in a month, I feel in good shape. However, if I do less, I don't lose sleep over it. I read what I read, and let the rest fall into place.

Fiction: 122. A lot of what I read this year fell under graphic novels, and most of those are fiction. I did read some nonfiction graphic novels, but the majority were fiction. This is exactly double the amount of fiction from last year.

Nonfiction: 51. I read five books less in nonfiction this year. I only read 2 books that would be classified as LIS. On this regard, I still do most of my LIS reading via articles. Though I have not made as many article notes this year, I do still keep up with the literature (some of it may be I read stuff, but I don't consider it good enough to blog about it and share it). My remarks from last year regarding LIS books still hold this year. I did nonfiction in other areas of interest to librarians (or I think they should interest librarians) such as the topic of books and reading and the topic of community organizing.

Books borrowed:102. This breaks down as follows:

79 books from my local public library, Madison County Public Library (I use the Berea branch, which also let's me request items from the main branch as needed). I have to say we are very pleased here with the public library system. For a small system, they are very responsive; they do some pretty good collection development, and they are very open to suggestions from patrons. I know given that I have turned in suggestions for possible purchase. They got the items in pretty quick.

2 via Overdrive. Out of the 79 above, I gave my public library's Overdrive offerings a spin.

8 Interlibrary loans (ILL) through my own library. If my public library does not have it, I go the ILL route. Most of my reading in the Horus Heresy series has been via ILL. I am not shy at all about using ILL whether for academic or popular stuff. Way I see it, it's what it's there for.

Books read via NetGalley: 46. These were mostly graphic novels. However, I did get some nonfiction and fiction items this way as well.

Books read via Edelweiss: 3. I don't like their interface as much, so I tend to use it less. However, for librarians, this may be a good source even if you do not request galleys for review because of the access you can get to publisher catalogs. Also, for galleys, they do tend to have some backlist items.

Books from other sources: 7. This would include books I have gotten directly from a publisher for review (one publisher I work with fairly regularly; the other more irregular) and a book or two won in some online contest.

Books that are mine: 13. This means books I have purchased (that were not review copies-- I sometimes do get actual books-- or galleys). Out of these, 2 were the rereads.This is part of why I failed my TBR challenge. I did not pay that much attention to the books I have already. Know what? It was still fun and worth it to do all that reading.

Graphic novels and comics: 98. Definitely a good year for graphic novels and comics. Many of these I read via NetGalley, mostly newer things such as the Before Watchmen series.

Mangas: 3. These three were part of my personal collection (they are mine). I have a good stack of mangas, so I hope to read a few more over this new year. I particularly enjoyed the Triage X series, upon which I will comment some more below. My comments from last year in terms of difficulty finding titles still apply. I still do my runs to "the big city" (Lexington) when I want to get a good bookstore. However, since I am reading more via NetGalley and/or other review methods, buying books has not been as urgent as before. But I still hunt for specific things to add to my personal collection.

Other categories: I read a couple of poetry books by Appalachian writers. Living in Appalachia as I do now (on the edge, but we are still Appalachia), I have felt a need to read about the region as well as explore writers of the region. You will probably see a few more of those kinds of books on my list for this year down the road. Got in some art books as well. Also, as I mentioned, some erotica, which I have always read, but this is the year I decided to go public in terms of reviewing it.

Book challenges: I did not complete the TBR book challenge as mentioned. I will write a separate post for that soon.

If you are still here, I am glad you stuck around. Let's look at the part my four readers have been waiting for: my favorites of 2013. This definitely was a very good year in terms of good stuff to read. I will like to my reviews if I have a published review (for some, I have reviews completed, but scheduled for later on). Some of my favorites include:

Brian K. Vaughan's Saga. This series for me was a pleasant discovery. I read the first trade paperback volumes, and I have to say this is among the best things I have read recently. It definitely deserves every positive accolade it has gotten. I will be looking for more volumes down the road. If you enjoy science fiction, fantasy, good stories, fables, so on, you need to be reading this. I wrote the review, and it will be appearing on this blog later, so stay tuned.

The Horus Heresy series. This has not been perfect, but overall it remains a favorite of mine. Some volumes have been excellent, some average, and at least one bad one. The bad one, so far, was volume 6, Descent of Angels (link to my review). I am currently reading Mechanicum, volume 9 of the series, and I do plan to continue reading the series. Fans of Warhammer 40K will certainly enjoy this series as well, with the caveat that, like many series with various authors, some volumes may be better than others, but so far, the positives have outweighed any negatives.

Dwayne Mack, Mentoring Faculty of Color. This is one of the academic books I read this year. A bit from my review: "The book fills a very important gap in the literature of higher
education: how faculty members of minority groups go through getting
tenure, the obstacles and challenges they face, and the various paths
they take in creating a way out of no way."

Serving Him: Sexy Stories of Submission. When I tell people who have read, or are considering reading, 50 Shades of Gray to do themselves a favor and find better erotica, Kramer Bussel's book is one that I recommend right away. In addition, this book has the Better Half "Seal of Approval."

Fat Girl by Carlos Batts. An erotic photography collection featuring April Flores. I read this as a review copy via NetGalley, but it is one I would add to my personal collection in print.

Punk Rock Jesus by Sean Murphy. The premise? A reality show features a clone of Jesus. Yes, THAT Jesus.

Bob Fingerman's Maximum Minimum Wage. An oversized collection of Fingerman's comic strip about a graphic artist in New York City, his girlfriend, and his friends. This is like a sitcom on print, but in this case, it is a sitcom done right, and it does contain some adult themes.

Darth Vader and Son and Vader's Little Princess. Both books by Jeffrey Brown. A pair of delightful little books that every Star Wars fan has to read. Brown imagines what would have happened if Darth Vader had to raise his kids. Who knew the Dark Lord of the Sith could make a pretty good dad? Link to my review. Great humor for all ages.

Neal Thompson's A Curious Man: the Strange & Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe It Or Not!" Ripley. A biography of the man that reads like a good yarn. You thought his comic strip and his stories were amazing? Well, his life was amazing as well. My review of this is coming soon.

The Flesh Cartel, Season 1: Damnation. A very explicit psychosexual thriller about an organization that "could teach
even the KGB a thing or two about breaking a human mind. Fortunately for
their ultra-rich clients, they’re just as skilled at putting people
back together again—as perfect pets, well-trained and eager to please" (from the book's description). As I wrote in my review, "this is erotica for readers who like their kink very dark and very rough." It is also very enthralling and well-written, but not for the faint of heart. This is the first compilation of the series.

Luc Jacamon and Matz, The Killer Omnibus, Vol. 1. This is a hard boiled noir series about a professional killer who reflects upon his life and work. Is the stress catching up to him? Definitely worth reading. Review coming soon.

Bump in the Night. An erotic horror collection that makes a very good read around Halloween, but you can read it any time. From my review, "if you like your horror with an element of edgy erotica, or you like
your hard erotica with an element of terror and suspense, then this can
be the anthology for you."

And last, but not least for this year, William Shakespeare's Star Wars. Right away, I will say this is just a hoot. Fans of Star Wars and fans of Shakespeare have a reason to come together. From my review, "the author in essence has channeled the great bard to envision the Star Wars epic in a new light."

What I am currently reading. As of this writing, I have already read 8 books for January 2014. I am currently reading the following:

The Big Book of Bizarro, edited by Richard Bottles and Gary Lee Vincent. This is a big anthology, so it will likely take me a while. What I have read so far, I have enjoyed.

Alex Strick van van Linschoten, et.al, eds., Poetry of the Taliban. It turns out the Taliban are not only the repressive former rulers of Afghanistan, but also many of their members have a poetic side. The poetry reflects much of the poetic tradition of the nation and its people. The editors sought works done by ordinary people as opposed to literary works that were clearly just propaganda from that regime. An interesting anthology so far.

Graham McNeill's Mechanicum. This is book 9 of the Horus Heresy series, and it focuses on the Mechanicum of Mars, the technocult that builds the weapons and supplies for the armies of the Emperor. The civil war of the Horus Heresy finally reaches Mars. If you wanted to know more about the Mechanicum, this may be the book for you. Pretty good so far.

Mark Rahner, Dejah Thoris and the Green Men of Mars, Vol. 1. Collection of comics based on the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. This is a NetGalley selection.

The Best of Pantha: the Warren Stories. A collection of tales about the character of Pantha from Vampirella magazine. This is another NetGalley selection.

P.S. In case you are interested (assuming you read this far, for which I thank you), here are a few other folks who gave their year-end reading reports. I include these because I always find interesting the diversity of books that other people out there read, even the books that are not in my reading horizon:

About Me

I have been an academic librarian since 2004, and I started blogging in
2005. Prior to this, I have been a high school teacher and a college
adjunct instructor.
One of my passions is to teach others how to know when they need
information, how to find it, and how to make use of it in an ethical
way. I have access to a diverse range of information sources, and I know
how to use them. Plus, I arm people with facts and information. I am
firm believer in teaching these very important skills.

I call my professional blog The Gypsy Librarian (where, among other things, I read a lot of library literature so you don't have to, then write about it) because a gypsy is a wanderer, and I am a wanderer at heart. Also because much as Federico García Lorca wrote in Romancero Gitano, as Puerto Rican, I have left my homeland and have struggled along the way. As Tolkien wrote,
"not all who wander are lost." I also keep a personal blog at The Itinerant Librarian. Feel free to check my blogs out. Comments are always welcome.

Married to The Better Half, we have a
daughter who reminds me innocence and wonder are great things. We also
have two cats who keep life interesting.